Bell Street Park – Seattle

A new project recently via the Daily Journal of Commerce unveiled by SvR Design Company in Seattle shows a pair of proposals for Bell Street Park: “The project will affect the area from First to Fifth avenues and create 17,000 square feet of park space. The city is converting one lane of traffic to public recreational space and reconfiguring parking to create a linear open space with landscaping, lighting and pedestrian amenities.”

:: image via Seattle ParksThe team created a couple of different concepts, based on good streetscape principles and some of the cultural and natural history of the area of the city. A description of the concepts and some commentary from Nate Cormier, landscape architect at SvR is included in the article, along with a representative concept block of each plan:

CONCEPT ONEThe first ‘Sluiced Surface Plan’:“…was inspired by the earth moving that created Bell Street… it is meant to represent the changed landscape. The pathway through the park meanders down the street, moving from side to side. Cormier said it reflects the fact that cities are always changing, and that some landscapes are made while others are unmade. “

:: image via Seattle ParksCONCEPT TWOThe second, called ‘Measured Movement Plan‘: “…was inspired by the rhythms of the street and also reflects the area’s history as Seattle’s film row. In this design, the park would have a pathway straight down the street. “This one says, the people in a sense are the architects,” Cormier said. “It’s more of a stage, more flexible, more taut compared to the other one that really sets up those opportunities more explicitly.”

The more formal elements of this plan are derived from a more mechanical processes and industrial heritage, as well as referencing the areas history of film. The repetition and modulation of spaces using the filmic idea of frames, using lighting and the tracery of impressions of people as a conceptual framework for organizing the site.